Cases Of Meningitis In Spain Drop By 90 Per Cent In Last Year

Cases Of Meningitis In Spain Drop By 90 Per Cent In Last Year

Cases Of Meningitis In Spain Drop By 90 Per Cent In Last Year. image: wikimedia

CASES Of Meningitis In Spain Have Dropped By 90 Per Cent In The Last Year

Today, Saturday, April  24, is World Meningitis Day, which the Ministry of Health and Families of the Junta de Andalucía has joined in with, by promoting vaccination against meningitis as a means of prevention of this disease (meningococcal disease).
Figures reveal that during the last 12 months, there have been only 24 cases in all of Spain, six of which have been in Andalucía, compared to the 257 cases of meningitis the previous year – of which 31 died – a staggering drop of 90.6 per cent.
Last year, the Ministry of Health and Families launched a meningitis awareness campaign, aimed at informing adolescents and their families of the importance of getting vaccinated, called ‘#ZeroMeningitis that nothing stops you’, and it is being continued again this year, you can find the info by clicking here – https://www.andavac.es/campanas/meningitis/.
Since January 2020 the meningitis vaccine has been administered free of charge in health centres throughout Andalucía to infants at 12 months of age, to help protect them from a younger age, whereas in the rest of Spain, it is given when a child reaches 12 years of age, with a rescue of all those aged 13 to 18 years.

The ultimate objective of the Andalucían health authorities is to enable every adolescent in the province, aged between 12 and 18 to be vaccinated against this disease over the next three years, as meningitis can cause sequelae, or even death in some cases.

Health authorities are currently putting a plan together where infants will be vaccinated in three stages, given a dose at two, four, and then finally, at 15 months of age, so that the approximate 60,000 infants born in Andalucía each year can benefit from the protection that gives them, meaning that the vaccination plan in the province will be one of the most complete at national and global level, as reported by juntadeandalucia.es.

The Euro Weekly News is running a campaign to help reunite Brits in Spain with their family and friends by capping the costs of PCR tests for travel. Please help us urge the government cap costs at https://euroweeklynews.com/2021/04/16/ewn-champions-the-rights-of-brits-in-spain-to-see-loved-ones-again/

Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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